Question

Hey Folks - Looking for some general guidance as I am under contract on a new home that is currently being built. TL:DR: Currently building house; Really like google home, need a better solution to pair with google home for whole-home audio; other ideas to consider? Its pre-drywall so I can make some changes now if I plan for them. I am a big Google Home fan due to the ease of use and setup.  Music, TV Audio, Lighting, and Security are my main interests. The house has speaker wire and Cat5 run to a central room in the basement and I will be installing ceiling speakers in 11 + rooms.  Would like to keep using Google as my base as it does a great job of distributing music or video sources wherever I want. The main thing I am lacking with my current setup is the ability to switch audio from Google Music to the audio from my TVs playing through the ceiling speakers. If I have a party and have the game on the TV, I would love to be able to put the game through the audio of any of the rooms I want and play audio from Google in others.  I did some research and found HTD whole home audio and it seems to do the trick.  Anyone have any reviews, feedback, or other suggestions on the best way to solve my challenge? Other ideas I should consider as I am currently pre-drywall?  
https://www.htd.com/Lync-6v3-Set?cu...lor=1

Answer 1

Following. Building a home this year (concrete hasn't even been poured yet) but I'm biased towards Google Home. I do wish the pucks had a 3. 5mm so that I could have the announcements over the whole home speaker system.  

Comments

@rose it looks like that HTD system can interact with google and use chrome casts as an input.  

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@babbitt21530 fabulous. Are you doing Nest Cams indoor/outdoor and if so how did you or will you have the electrical done so that there's an outlet in a convenient location?  

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@rose I’m trying to figure that out. Possibly just going to tie them into the existing planned floodlights

Answer 2

For areas where it's only audio we ran speaker wire (kitchen, MBR, deck, patio, living room) and are using Sonos connect amps. It is pricy but we love the simplicity of it.  

Comments

@unbosom0 you can send audio out to a $50 amp and then power any speaker you want.  

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@babbitt21530 what do you use

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@babbitt21530 this is great exactly what I have been looking for.  

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@unbosom0 you might need a 3. 5 to rca cable to go from the stereo jack to the amp.  

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@babbitt21530 comparing chromecasts to Sonos is like comparing a 6 speed mongoose to a car.  

Answer 3

Love HTD. Awesome products, awesome company. They’re super helpful.  

Comments

@breunig have you set it up in your home? One thing I’m wondering is if you take the audio for a tv and send it to the Lync system, can you listen to the tv audio through the tv too? Or are you stuck only listening through the lync speakers?  

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Excellent question. I don’t have my tv hooked up to it. Email HTD, they’ll be happy to help you out. Low pressure too, they won’t try to sell you anything.  

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@babbitt21530 no way they process it quick enough to not have major lip sync issues. None.  

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@woodhead that’s my other concern

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@babbitt21530 it’s not a concern. it’s a definite deal breaker

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@woodhead have you experienced it? What other solutions would you recommend?  

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@woodhead checking on the above. Other ideas that won't break the bank / require professional installation? I would do Control 4, but understand it to be quite pricey.  

Answer 4

Put a real control system in like Control4

Comments

@khichabia control4, Savant, Crestron. Pick One.  

Answer 5

Ceiling speakers? I've never heard any that sound good playing music in any home. I'd go with in-wall speakers or flat speakers mounted on the walls but proper speakers, well located will sound much better.  

Answer 6

I've been using HTD for about ten years. Works great. Call them and ask questions; you'll love their customer service. And since you're building, I've always preferred wired to wireless, regardless of the protocol. If I were to do it all again, I might use Bose in wall speakers in critical listening areas. I went with the least expensive HTD speakers, and they're fine, but Bose are just better (IMHO). I put two echo dots, called black dot and white dot, as inputs. My kids can listen to what they want in their bedrooms; I can listen to my choice in the great room.  

Comments

@cheek thanks for the input. Glad to hear you enjoy it. Do you experience any lag when listening to TV audio through your HTD system?